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CX2SA > ISS 10.11.05 15:07l 80 Lines 3903 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 58452_CX2SA
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: ISS STATUS REPORT #05-55
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Sent: 051110/1302Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:58452 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:58452_CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : ISS@WW
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*International Space Station Status Report #05-55*
*3:30 p.m. CST, Monday, Nov. 7, 2005*
*Expedition 12 Crew*
The international space station crew completed the first spacewalk using
U.S. space suits since April 2003, installing a new camera and
discarding an inactive science probe.
Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev began their
spacewalk from the Quest Airlock at 9:32 a.m. CST as they placed their
suits on internal battery power. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 22
minutes. The spacewalk started about an hour later than planned. The
crew had to repressurize the Quest airlock to open a misaligned valve in
the interior portion of the two-chambered module. With the valve
properly positioned, they again depressurized the outer chamber to begin
their work outside.
Once out the door, McArthur and Tokarev made up the time easily and
completed all of their primary tasks as well as some get-ahead jobs.
They installed a television camera on the outboard end of the port truss
segment. The camera will be an important aid during future assembly work
when additional truss segments are added to the port side of the
complex. The camera installation job had originally been planned to be
performed during the STS-114 space shuttle mission of Discovery in
August. It was not performed during that mission, however, when a job to
remove gap fillers from the shuttle heat shield was added in its place.
McArthur and Tokarev first retrieved the camera’s stanchion from an
external tool platform attached to Quest, brought the equipment out to
the port truss, installed the camera on top of the stanchion and
installed the hardware. The camera was powered up and provided its first
views from space just before 12 p.m. Central time.
Next, flight controllers asked the spacewalkers to complete a get-ahead
task by removing a failed electronics box called a Rotary Joint Motor
Controller (RJMC). The RJMC will be returned on the next shuttle mission
so engineers can determine why it failed. The analysis will be used to
evaluate future similar hardware to be shipped to the station
The pair then moved hand over hand to the highest point of the station,
the P6 truss, about 50 feet above the U.S. Destiny Lab. There, McArthur
removed an old experiment called the Floating Potential Probe from its
stand and pushed it away from the station. It floated up and behind the
station. It is expected to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere in about
100 days.
The experiment was installed during a station assembly mission in 2000
to characterize the electrical environment around the station’s solar
arrays. Imagery from STS-114 showed that pieces of the experiment were
missing or backing out of place. Since it was no longer used, managers
decided to remove the unit and discard it.
The crewmembers then received approval to move ahead with the final
get-ahead task before calling it a day. They quickly removed a failed
circuit breaker from the Mobile Transporter (MT) and installed a new
one. Called a Remote Power Control Module, the breaker provides power
for redundant heating on the transporter. The transporter is a type of
space rail car that can moves along the station's truss structure.
With all tasks completed, McArthur and Tokarev entered the airlock and
began repressurizing it at 2:54 p.m. CST. It was the 63rd spacewalk in
support of station assembly and maintenance, the 35th staged from the
station and the 18th staged from Quest. It was the third spacewalk for
McArthur and the first for Tokarev.
For information on the crew's activities aboard the station, future
launch dates, and station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the
Earth, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
The next ISS status report will be issued Thursday, Nov. 10, or earlier
if events warrant.
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